I was just watching TV recently when this commercial came on:
It got me to thinking, what is it really about this commercial that caught my attention? First of all, there is the allegation that a baby can buy and sell stocks. This seems absurd. Sure, this is meant to signify that the site is easy to use and accessible to everyone, but a baby? It seems a lot like Geico's recognizable "So easy, a caveman can do it" motto. Is this meant to harness some of the success of those commercials?
There is, of course, the fact that the baby can talk, which just adds to the ridiculous nature of this commercial. The main intent is to attract customers to the site, but the commercial was also created to make us laugh. The vomiting at the end makes me wonder if that's really what got my attention, some crude humor?
I realize that commercials that get my attention entertain, rather than inform. I'd pay more attention to something like the above or a Geico commercial over say, for instance, a car commercial stating that their car is more roomy than the competitor's.
Perhaps this kind of commercial is simply necessary to appeal to their audience, us; something that will grab our attention and keep it throughout the 30-second spot.
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2 comments:
Personally, I think these commercials are hilarious. There are two different ones and they started airing during Super Bowl last year. Yes, they are ridiculous - but I think that's the point; that's what makes it so funny! I think most people know that a baby couldn't actually handle buying stock. We know it's more complicated than that. I think it grabs our attention because it's exactly what we're not expecting. There's a cute baby and then bam! a grown man's voice comes out of him. Right when we're adjusting to that, bam! he spits up and he's back to being a baby. It catches us off guard and it's all in good fun.
I think it has a lot to do with trying not to offend people. They make the point that a lot of people think it's really hard to by stocks. They make the star of the commercial a baby because what baby is going to watch that commercial and say, "Why are they making fun of me? I'm not too stupid to buy stocks!"? (I also believe that is why the caveman is used in the geico commercials.) If the star was a grown man, people might get a little offended. But they did make the voice that of a grown man as if to subtly say, "You ARE too stupid to buy stocks if you don't use our product."
I do agree with the fact that they also used the baby for a funny, original effect. People do pay more attention to a commercial that has some humor or something different in it rather than the usual boring "my car is better than yours" commercial.
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